1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention are generally related to a vessel that heats liquid. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a kettle that takes advantage of conductive and convective modes of heat transfer improving boiling efficiency while reducing energy requirements for heating said volume of liquid and methods of making the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Evidence of teas and heated, steeped beverages brewed with heated water has been found dating back as early as 8,000 years ago. This simple process is remarkably fuel-intensive, since the heat capacity for water is the highest of any commonly found liquid, at 4.186 J·g−1. While metallurgic advances appeared to have serendipitously advanced the efficiency of simple boiling vessels (knowing that thermal conductivity coefficients were not documented until at least the late 1700s-early 1800s), little has changed in terms of design.
With fuels of all kinds becoming increasingly scarce, the increasing demands of modern societies, the skyrocketing global population increase and the inherently finite nature of fuel materials themselves, it is becoming increasingly necessary to drive most aspects of modern society toward greater efficiencies on all levels. Most First-World governments openly acknowledge these facts, and most are cognizant that many incremental increases in system efficiencies are often easier to achieve than a few, large, so-called “discontinuous,” society-wide adoptions of energy efficiency such as moving to nuclear power. Innumerable examples of these incremental increases in efficiency can be found on the market, including many familiar smaller devices now being powered by solar cells, extremely efficient lithium-ion batteries and the like.
Because of the huge popularity of steeping and brewing worldwide—for example, $7.4 million in tea kettle sales in 2009 in the United Kingdom alone—it would be very advantageous to appeal to increasingly ecologically aware markets. To date, however, no commercially available tea kettle appears to be available which exploits both simple and advanced scientific principles to increase the efficiency of this energy-demanding process.
Thus, there is a need for a tea kettle design having greater heating efficiency, and in particular, utilizing increased surface area an improved heat-transfer means.